It’s startling to see how many business leaders think brandstory is not relevant to their company.

Leaders have told me when they hear “brandstory” they think “children’s books”. Others have said, “I didn’t take any ‘story’ classes in business school, so it must not be important.”

Quick question: Did they teach anything about social media’s impact on business in those business classes?

Some of the best brandstory-focused companies include Apple, Google, Coca-Cola, UPS, and Visa. (Click on the links to see examples.)

It’s no surprise that these same companies are listed on Forbes’ list of the world’s most valuable brands.

Take-away #1: The most valuable brands in the world are the best brandstory-focused companies.

Not only do these companies have the highest brand value, they also enjoy tremendously high gross margins (from 39%-85%).

Take-away #2: Brandstory-focused companies enjoy some of the highest gross margins in their industries.

Brandstory is not about getting people to buy your product, it’s about getting people to buy into your brand.

Brandstory rises above focusing merely on functions and benefits. Instead, brandstory focuses on the factors that make deeper connections, and trigger purchase-decisions for your target customer.

As Daniel Pink said, in A Whole New Mind, “Story, businesses are realizing, means big money.”

With the highest brand values, and the highest gross margins in corporate America, it’s easy to see the transformational effect brandstory has had on these amazing companies.

When brands compete, story wins.